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What ar rehab exercises?
For your rehabilitation to proceed at a good pace, an exercise program adapted to your condition is essential to improve your mobility, your strength and reduce your pain. Your involvement in the recovery process is crucial to your success. However, carrying out this program on a regular basis remains a significant obstacle for many and the reasons can be several.
After a normal 9 to 5 job, it is easier to sit on the couch to watch the hockey or basketball game than to do specific exercises. Or it is sometimes difficult to incorporate the exercises after a day of work when you must take care of the children’s homework or prepare dinner for the family.
Here is a small list of advice that we offer to our patients
Take the time to understand the reason for each specific exercise
It is easier to perform an exercise when you understand its usefulness as well as the reason it has been given to you. If you have any doubts, take the time to communicate them with your therapist so they can take the time to explain their reasoning to you.
Establish a routine
We often give the example of brushing our teeth. There are specific times that we schedule for this activity, either in the morning when we wake up or in the evening before going to bed. The same goes for your exercises. Write the event down in your calendar or at a specific time of the day. You could do your exercises before starting your workday, at lunchtime or at the end of the day. If you already do sports, you could use them as a warm-up.
Put your exercises in plain sight
Display your exercise sheet in a place you frequent often so that it is always within sight. Display it in your office, on your fridge or even as wallpaper on your phone to give yourself a little reminder.
Be realistic with the time you will devote to your exercises
We often ask our patients the question: how much time per day are they willing to devote to exercises? If you can give 15 minutes and your exercise program takes 40 minutes, the chances are slim that you will continue to carry out your rehab exercise routine. Communicate with your therapist to adjust the program or to quantify the exercises in order of importance.
Space out your exercises in small sequences
If your condition requires a comprehensive exercise program such as the rehabilitation of an anterior cruciate ligament repair, divide your exercise program into sequences. It is easier to perform 3 exercise sequences of 20 minutes than one hour of continuous exercise.
Make follow-up appointments with your therapist
When our dentist appointment approaches, we take more time to brush our teeth and floss well. We see the same thing from our patients in physiotherapy. From experience, patients are more likely to perform their exercises if they have adequate follow-up with their therapist according to the frequency that we have established together.
Finally, remember that your involvement in your exercise program plays a decisive role in your well-being. Adhering to your exercises will also help you get the most out of your physiotherapy sessions as well as promote your rehabilitation time. Communication between you and your therapist is equally important to establish a therapeutic synergy. This will make it possible to establish a program adapted to you as well as to your reality.
If you feel that you or someone close to you needs help in recovering from an injury that is slow to heal, do not delay any longer and contact us so that you can have the help of one of our experts.
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